Americana

Regarding Friday's op-ed piece by John Twohey: A wonderful sampling of Americana that indeed captures the soul and beauty of America. My first question is this: How many high-school seniors are cognizant of even 25 percent of the examples given, or of portions of Ronald Reagan's or George Washington's inaugural addresses? It would be ironic if we were to export something we don't know or appreciate. If Twohey's suggestion is ever put on tape, please accept my order for several copies. Marvin Starn Orlando

Before we tell you about this section, we need to make something clear. If any of you are NCAA investigators, just chill out. Florida State had no role in the painting of its coach holding a spear. So, any depiction of American Indians was done without the express written consent of just about everybody. So, there. OK, our next section is our red, white and blue look at art that depicts Americana. By definition, this art is pretty much less than 200 years old. The styles vary, but in most cases the art actually looks like what it is supposed to look like.

Jump into American Aquarium With its growing popularity, the Americana realm has become diluted with too many bands that believe an acoustic guitar and a banjo is enough to be in the club. Fortunately, there are genuine ambassadors of the country-rock-folk hybrid such as American Aquarium. The Raleigh, N.C., act blends world-weary ballads such as "Man I'm Supposed to Be" with more rock-worthy fare such as "Burn.Flicker.Die. " The band plays Friday, June 6, at Will's Pub on a bill with opening acts Bartender Brian and Terri Binion.

OSCEOLA COUNTY residents have a quality of life seldom seen lately in much of Central Florida, and something that would be admired and received with great fanfare in other areas.On Aug. 16, in sleepy little Kenansville, the democratic process was witnessed in a form that could have been a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post magazine cover painting, real Americana.The decades-old schoolhouse, with its creaky, wooden stairs, was cleaned and decorated by the schoolchildren in banners of red, white and blue.

Iran across an old item in my long, long file of possible subjects. It was something I thought of but hadn't had time to research.Now it rather fits the Fourth of July weekend - a good time to stay home and watch videos if you ask me.Anyhow, Penny Marshall and Rob Reiner were married from 1971-'79 and since then have both gotten involved in the movie-director game while still acting occasionally.Taken as a body of work by an ex-married couple, their movies have a downright Capra- esque cast.

The intersection of Americana Boulevard and Orange Blossom Trail will be closed for construction from 10 p.m. today through 6 a.m. Wednesday.The construction is part of the Orange Blossom Trail Roadway Enhancement Project, which began late last year and is expected to continue through September 1997.The Trail - between Interstate 4 and Taft-Vineland Road - will boast slip-resistant sidewalks, benches and trash receptacles at all 53 bus stops, telephones at major bus stops, high-pressure sodium lights and simple, uniform signs.

The Americana sales this month were remarkably strong, given the economy. Christie's auctions of important Americana, Pennsylvania German folk art, the Russell B. Aitken Collection of Decoys and the Benjamin F. Edwards III Collection of Chinese Imari Porcelain Part II, totaled $13.7 million (against an estimate of $9.2 million to $14.3 million). Sotheby's sales of Americana, including furniture, folk art, silver and early military accouterments, totaled $15.9 million. Those sales had been expected to bring $12.9 million to $18.9 million.

Wielding a paddle or standing with arms folded to bid at the auctions, Eddy G. Nicholson, a New Hampshire investor, rocked the market for Americana in the 1980s. His contrarian behavior in publicly paying astronomical prices for scores of objects made the Texas-born ex-marine one of the more visible spenders at the New York sales.Now, the bulk of the art and antiques bought for his 1845 Federal-style farmhouse in Hampton, N.H., has been shipped to Christie's in New York to be auctioned in January.

Car parts and schoolbooks are in her belly. A filling lunch is in ours. Ahead: Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, Itajai, Fortaleza - the kind of exotic ports you read about in adventure novels, not glossy cruise brochures.Your basic Love Boat it's not. And 72 well-heeled passengers aboard the Americana can hardly wait.Welcome aboard a cargo vessel that doubles as a classy cruise ship.If you've ever dreamed of shipping out on a freighter but didn't relish bunking with a banana, your ship may have come in. In the 19,500-ton Americana, Norway's Ivaran Lines marries the comforts of a luxury cruise with the romance of a long sea voyage on a working cargo vessel.

EUSTIS - Have you made it out to the Lake County Fair yet this year? If not, Saturday is your last chance to enjoy this slice of Americana. Gates open at 1 p.m. and organizers will put a wrap on the 93 r d edition at 10 p.m. Highlights include a youth plant sale at 6 p.m., swine awards at 6:30 p.m., the swine sale at 7 p.m. and the talent-show finals at 7:30 p.m. The fun takes place at the Lake County Fairgrounds, County Road 452 and...

Rick Browne is the kind of guy who wears many hats: writer, editor, photographer, barbecue pit master, restaurant critic and consultant. But most of America knows him by only one: A signature straw hat with a red and white band. The full look, which included his handcrafted "table shirt" made from red-and-white-checked tablecloths, was Browne's uniform for seven years on his popular "Barbecue America" series on public television. The 67-year-old is still stoking the barbecue fires with a new magazine in the works dedicated to all things 'cue.

After issuing their first album in nine years earlier this summer, the well-reviewed "Americana," Neil Young and Crazy Horse appear to be on a creative rampage. The band announced Tuesday it will release another new record, the double-CD "Psychedelic Pill," on Oct. 30. "Americana," as its name implied, served up a rustic slab of reinterpreted, old-timey classics such as Woody Guthrie 's "This Land is Your Land," Stephen Foster's "Oh Susannah," "Tom Dooley" and "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" (under the title "Jesus Chariot")

HARBOR SPRINGS -- The First Presbyterian Church of Harbor Springs will host "Americana," a program featuring saxophone and piano music inspired by the American musical ethos, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 2. The church is located at 7940 Cemetery Road. The musical program includes works by living American composers Gunther Schuller and Mohammed Fairouz, as well as the recently deceased William Albright, who spent most of his career as a faculty member of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

HARBOR SPRINGS -- The First Presbyterian Church of Harbor Springs will host "Americana," a program featuring saxophone and piano music inspired by the American musical ethos, at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 2. The church is located at 7940 Cemetery Road. The musical program includes works by living American composers Gunther Schuller and Mohammed Fairouz, as well as the recently deceased William Albright, who spent most of his career as a faculty member of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Two years before the federal government required it, the management of one Orlando apartment complex was adding roll-in showers, lowering kitchen cabinets and making other adjustments to units to accommodate disabled residents.For the management of Americana Villas, the $3,500 it cost to remodel each of the 15 first-floor apartments has reaped financial and social rewards.''It's good, common-sense business because there's very little turnover in those apartments,'' said Gary Kitchings leasing coordinator for the 944-unit complex in south Orlando.

Nine males, each in costume, stand in a semi-circle. For seven of them, the costume entails a full bodysuit complete with attached horned headwear. Two are nude, except for that headwear. And at the center of the semi-circle is another costumed figure in white. She is kneeling. Her eyes are very large and she has a disproportionately large round mouth, like that of a blowup doll. The ink-on-mylar work, titled "9 Boys and 1 Girl," resembles some sort of male-dominated initiation ritual.